Finding A Home
by RunningDudeGuy
Summary: Shargra is an ordinary lion, until the day comes when he and his friend Shanika must leave their home forever. As he searches for a new home, he faces many dangers...until one day he must place his life in the paws of a hyena...and try to keep his sanity.
1. Chapter 1 : The birth of Shargra

**Ok so I wrote this when I was board so its not that good and its probably the only thing I'll write and I wasn't going to upload it but one of my friends made me, the same friend has also read through it corrected the mistakes and changed some things thanks to her for that (the female cub in chapter 2 is based on her). Its mainly a story about my own characters but it will have some from the actual film, it happens in the time before Simba so Mufasa is a teenage lion and the hyenas are pups.**

**I don't own the lion king or any of the characters I'd like to but I don't**

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**Chapter 1: The birth of Shargra**

**_'they say that one decision can affect your entire life. yer I thought it was a load of bollocks too until the day came when I would have to make that decision. I because of that decision that I'm alive today.'_**

It was a hot sunny day, and on the African Plain a large tan colored lion was lying under the shade of a tree by his cave. He had been lying there for nearly an hour now and was just falling asleep when a golden-brown lioness came out of the cave, came over to him and said,

"Isua wants you to come back in now"

He looked up and asked worriedly

"How is she, is she ok?"

"Yes, she's ok," said the smiling lioness, "she wants you to come in and help choose a name for your new son"

"You mean?" he said excitedly

"Yes these lands have a new king and you have a new cub," she said still smiling.

The lion leapt up and shouted, "So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

With that he ran off into the cave. It was a medium sized cave with a sandy floor and a small hole in the center of the roof. At one end of the cave there was a flat topped raised rock, with a beautiful green-eyed lioness laying on it, stretched out lazily with a tiny cub in between her paws. A group of lionesses were crowded around the rock, a shaft of light from the hole in the roof fell on the cub lighting him up for all to see. The lion walked up to Isua and his new cub.

"I see you decided to come at last Bafsta." Isua said with a smile

"I came as soon as I heard he'd come," Bafsta said "What are we going to call him then?"

"I thought I'd let you name him, after all he's your son as well as mine." Isua said, shrugging.

"Thanks, I have the perfect name for him. He shall be known as Shargra and he shall be king after me." Bafsta said looking down at his new cub Shargra. Shargra looked back and smiled up at his father. Bafsta smiled back. He just knew that this cub would do great things one day.


	2. Chapter 2 : A New Friend

**Ok, just to clarify, the story isn't taking place in the pridelands but it's not far away from them, and thanks to the two people who have reviewed.**

**Chapter 2:A new friend**

It had been several years since Shargra was born and he was now a young cub. He was sitting at the entrance to his prides cave trying to think of something to do, when a young female cub wandered up to him, and he groaned inwardly. 'Oh great, not _her_ again!' he thought.

"Hi Shargra," she grinned, "Got any food?"

"No I don't have any food!" he shouted, "why do you always ask me that?"

"Because I'm always hungry," she replied coyly, her voice becoming more and more cheerful. Shargra couldn't help but shudder - how he had come to loathe that cheerfulness.

"If you're hungry why don't you go and catch something?" he said, beginning to laugh.

"And what is so funny? I could catch something if I wanted!" she said angrily.

"Look Shanika, I can't even catch anything and I'm a year older than you."

"Ok, ok, I see your point." She suddenly brightened up and grinned maniacally, exposing teeth that matched her stomach: abnormally large. Shargra winced. He knew what was coming next. "Do you want to come and explore again?"

"What, again? You nearly got us killed last time and the time before that and t..."

"Ok, I get the message but it was an accident" Shanika looked up with mournful eyes.

"Oh don't look at me like that," Shanika continued staring. She had got the innocent look down to a tee - no one could resist those big blue eyes.

"Ok, ok, we'll go. On one condition. You don't talk about food, and you don't sing again."

"That was two, and what's wrong with my singing?"

Shargra just growled.

"Fine, I won't sing. Can we go now?" Shanika said.

Finally smiling, Shargra said, "Ok let's go".

The two cubs started walking into their lands when a voice from behind them spoke "And just where do you think you're going?"

Shargra sighed and said "Hi mum". Both cubs turned and saw Isua standing behind them, tail swishing in a slightly amused way.

"So where do you think you're going?" Isua repeated.

"Just exploring, Mum." Shargra said, trying to look innocent.

"Oh no, I know what happens when you go exploring. It ends up with either me or your father having to come and rescue you and whoever you went with." Isua said sternly.

"Please mum we wont get into trouble" Shargra pleaded.

"Oh ok, but this is your last chance, got it? Oh, and stay away from the river. It's dangerous." Isua said firmly, one eyebrow raised.

"Yes, we've got it, bye mum." Shargra said swiftly, and the two cubs turned to leave.

"And watch out for Hyenas." Isua shouted to them.

Shargra looked back and said, "Mum, there aren't any Hyenas around here. They're not even allowed in these lands."

"That doesn't mean there won't be any. Just be careful, ok?"

"Ok, ok, bye now." With that, both cubs ran off.

Isua stood there, watching them with a faintly bemused grin on her face, before shaking her head determinedly and stalking back into the coolness of the cave. She would never understand that cub of hers.

The two cubs walked out in to the Savanna, in the direction of the river. They had only been walking for five minuets and Shanika had already started to sing.

"It's the circle of life and…"

"What did I say about singing?" Shargra shouted at her.

"Can I whistle?" she asked.

"No!" Shargra shouted back.

"Well can I hum it?" she asked.

"Ok" said Shargra seeing that she couldn't be stopped.

For the next ten minuets, Shanika hummed the tune to 'Circle of life', off key. Until Shargra lost his temper and started shouting at her.

"Stop humming, it's driving me insane and where did you get that tune anyway?"

"It just came into my head." Explained Shanika patiently.

"Well get it out of your head then!" Shargra shouted.

"Ok, ok, there's no need to shout, and I'll have you know that that'll be a famous song someday!"

"That, a famous song? Yeah, right."

"It will be! You never appreciate me!" she screeched, bursting into pretend tears.

"Oh, honestly, Shanika...Shanika, I'm sorry…Sorry!"

She grinned maliciously. "Fooled you."

"Did not."

"Did too. And can you stop being so rude about my singing?"

"Sorry but that tune was driving me mad, if you have to hum at least do it on key" Shargra said.

"Hey I don't hum off key!" Shanika said angrily.

"Let's just forget it, ok?" Shargra said trying to avoid another argument that would end up with Shanika singing even more just to annoy him.

"Ok, so where are we actually going then?" Shanika asked.

"What?" Shargra exclaimed, "I was following you".

"Oh. Course, I knew that." Shargra groaned. This cub would never admit she was wrong. "So, where shall we go then?" Shanika asked hurriedly.

"To the river." Shargra said firmly.

"But, but your mother said to stay away from there!"

"Yes but she meant stay away unless your careful" Shargra explained.

"Oh, ok then let's go!" she grinned.

She walked off singing some ridiculous song called 'Hakuna Matata'. Shargra rolled his eyes and followed. Two minutes later… "Are we there yet?".

Shargra gritted his teeth. "No…"

"Oh, okay. Are we there yet?"

"Not yet."

"Are we th-"

"Shanika, it's been two seconds since the last time you asked."

"I know. Are we there yet?" Shanika whined.

"That's the eighth-thousandth time you've asked," Shargra said gritting his teeth again "but yes, we're finally there".

Suddenly the cubs heard a scream coming from the river "Somebody help!"

"What was that?" said both cubs at the same time.

"Help!" the voice shouted again.

"It sounded like it came from in the river," Shargra said running to the bank, he looked over the edge and gasped.

"What? What is it?" Shanika asked worriedly, running to his side.

"It's a Hyena pup! It's hanging on to a root half way down the bank!"

"A Hyena? Shargra run!" Shanika said nervously

"Shanika it's hanging over the river, plus its only a pup what can it do, anyway We cant just let it fall in and drown; we have to help it."

"What! Shargra are you mad!"

Shargra just ignored her, lying on the bank he stretched his paw out to the hyena and said, "Here take my paw!"

"I.. I cant reach" the hyena shouted back.

"Shanika, come over here and take my other paw!"

"I don't think this is a good idea," Shanika said nervously.

"Just do it!" he shouted.

Shanika shook her head, dashed over to the bank and took Shargra's paw. Shargra lowered his paw down further and the Hyena grabbed it.

"Shanika, pull us back up!" Shargra shouted.

Shanika pulled as hard as she could, nipping with her teeth, and eventually managed to get both Shargra and the Hyena pup back on the riverbank. The Hyena pup got to its feet, drenched, looked at the two cubs and said "You, you saved my life!

"Yup, that's us! Heroes we are!" announced Shanika bravely, then realized that she was talking to a hyena and ran 2 feet away in one leap with a cry of "Aaaah!"

Shargra looked at her strangely, and then shook his head, deciding that he probably didn't want to know.

"But why?" asked the sopping hyena, dripping water everywhere.

"We couldn't let you fall in and drown could we?" Shargra said.

"But Lions hate Hyenas, don't you?" the Hyena said.

"That's not the point, if someone needs help and you can give it, you should no matter who they are. That's what my father taught me," Shargra explained.

" My father told me your all nasty creatures who steal food from us. Hmm... I can tell him he's wrong now! Well, thanks for saving me, my names Shenzi, daughter of Hafnine. My Ma's the leader." the Hyena said proudly.

"I'm Shargra and this annoying lioness here is Shanika," he said indicating Shanika who was now chasing her tail in circles, randomly. "Shanika, why are you doing that? You look stupid".

Shanika stopped for a second and said "It's fun." then she carried on. Shenzi just looked at her as though she was mad. "Is she…always like this?"

Shargra grinned. "Yes, it's a problem she's got. Ignore her, I do."

"Hey, Shargra, guess what?"

"What _now _Shanika?"

"I'm hungry."

Shargra sighed. "Excuse me," he said to Shenzi. "Oh, look, a shiny rock Shanika!"

"Where?" she screeched, darting off.

"So Shenzi, how did you come to be dangling over that river?" Shargra asked.

"Well this morning I decided to come and explore these lands, mainly because I'm not supposed to," she giggled. "I came to look at the river, and slipped on the bank. I just managed to catch the root before I fell in. I'd actually better go before my parents notice I'm gone."

"Okay, but don't let my Father see you in our lands," Shargra said, "He'll probably eat you"

"I'll try, and thanks again for saving me, I'll remember that!" And with that Shenzi ran off.

"See," Shargra said to Shanika, "I _told_ you she wouldn't eat us"

"Shiny..." said Shanika, who was staring at a rock.

"Oi! Earth to Shanika!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, alright, you were right, but you should always be careful".

"That's rich coming from you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Shanika snapped. "I am carefulness incarnate."

"Look, just forget it ok? And lets get going before we get in trouble."

The two cubs started to walk back.

"I'm gonna be a mighty king, so something dee da dee…."

Shanika started to sing 'I just can't wait to be king' which was bad, as she only knew half the words. Shargra tried putting his paws over his ears, but when he tried to walk like that he just fell flat on his face. Shanika found this so amusing that she actually stopped singing to laugh.

"Shut up Shanika, it's not funny and it's your fault!"

"How is it my fault, it's yours for trying to walk on your back legs!" Shanika shouted back.

"If you weren't singing I wouldn't have tried to cover my ears would I?"

Shanika was just about to shout back when Bafsta walked up to them.

"And what took you so long, you've been gone nearly an hour now?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. Bafsta and Isua shared a lot of characteristics, mostly due to their shared experience of Bafsta.

"We would have been quicker but _someone_ decided to _sing_ again" Shargra explained.

" So where did you go?" Bafsta asked.

"Nowhere interesting, we were just exploring." Shanika said innocently.

"I'll let that do for now. Let's go home and I'll ask you again what you did," Bafsta said.

"Why do you need to ask again?" Shargra asked.

"Because when you say nowhere interesting it means somewhere you were not supposed to go, but your mother wants you back so I can't ask you now. And Shanika, your mother's having a fit. Come on." Bafsta said. He then started walking in the direction of home. The cubs looked at each other and decided they'd better follow.


	3. Chapter 3 : Last Chance

**Right chapter 3 anyway thanks for the reviews! **

**blondenbeautiful thanks for the review, I'm glad you found it funny and you may think Shanika's funny but you wouldn't say that if you knew her, she is actually that annoying!**

**Erulasse thank you for reviewing and Shanika may be based on you but please don't sing! You might drive away the readers! (Only joking but don't sing)**

**Chapter 3: Last Chance**

The next morning by the time the two cubs woke up Bafsta had already left the cave to inspect his lands.

"He's gone! I told you so! He's avoiding me and it's all your fault!" Shargra shouted waking up several lionesses in the process.

"How's it my fault?" Shanika asked.

"Hey Bafsta guess what we did," said Shargra in a high pitched voice imitating Shanika "we found a hyena by the river and it almost fell in, but we saved it. It was Shargra's idea! "

"I don't sound like that!" Shanika said indignantly.

"That's not the point, the point is you said it! why on earth did you tell him?" Shargra said starting to pace around the cave angrily.

"Because he asked me what we did; what was I supposed to do?" Shanika said.

"You didn't have to tell the truth you don't normally!" Shargra shouted.

"Sorry but I'm not a liar!" Shanika said

Shargra was about to argue with this but then thought better of it "Ok, ok, lets just go, by the time we get back he'll probably have forgotten"

"You two aren't going ANYWHERE not after yesterday!" Isua said from the corner.

"What! But why?" Shargra exclaimed.

"you have got to be joking, what where the two things I told you two to do?" This produced silence. "To stay away from the river and to watch out for Hyenas and what did you do? You went to the river and found a Hyena! do you have any idea how dangerous that was! You could have been eaten!" Isua said angrily.

"Mum, she was only just as big as us and there were two of us! What could she have done? And we had just saved her life!" Shargra exclaimed.

"It's not what it could have done there might have been more than one of those things around and just because you saved it doesn't mean you're safe! You know very well that those things are evil" Isua answered.

"She didn't seem so bad mum, she seemed ok." Shargra said.

"Look Shargra I know what I'm talking about, I'm telling you this because I don't want you to get hurt." His mother explained.

"Ok mum, but cant we have one last chance, please?" Shargra pleaded. With this both Shanika and Shargra looked up with mournful eyes.

"Oh no that won't work this time!" Isua said.

The two cubs started making whimpering noises.

"Oh all right but this is ABSOLUTELY your last chance, got it? You have 1 hour." Isua said sternly.

"Yes! Thanks mum!" " Thanks Isua!" And with that both cubs disappeared within a second.

"Why do I ALWAYS fall for that?" she said to herself.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Can you feel the-" Shanika sang.

"If you don't stop singing, I'll find that hyena again and feed you to her." Shargra said.

"Ok, ok I can't sing that bad…can I?" Shanika asked worriedly.

"Oh you do, trust me!" he said.

Shanika just growled.

"Come on," he groaned exasperatedly. "Let's go exploring again,"

Shanika perked up and started to sing.


	4. Chapter 4 : lost home

**Ok so here's the 4th chapter and thank you erulasse for reviewing**

**Chapter 4 lost home**

About five hours later

"You don't think we're too late back," Shanika said.

"No, when my mum said an hour she meant as long as we wanted." Shargra answered.

"Are we there yet?" Shanika whined.

"Shanika you can see the cave… who are they? I've never seen them before." He said, looking at the three large lions walking up to their cave.

"Shall we find out before they see us?" Shanika said.

"Ok." Shargra said.

With that the two cubs dived behind a large bolder to listen.

"Oh look, my new pride!" one of the lions said.

"You mean our new pride." another interrupted.

"Oh yes, our pride right!" the first one said hurriedly.

"Your pride? We already have a king!" said Isua who was lying in front of the cave, standing up.

"Well, we don't see one, and if we do he won't survive long so I hope he has enough sense to stay away!" said the first lion.

"You can't do that!" Isua shouted, now obviously angry.

"Oh, I think you'll find we can, as anyone who disagrees won't live to regret it!" said the first lion.

"Yeah, this is the perfect kingdom for us. No king…beautiful women… and we don't even have to kill any cubs - there aren't any!" said the second lion, and both strangers began to laugh. They did not notice the panic in Isua's eyes. She started to panic - she'd forgotten about the cubs! What if they came back now? They'd be killed!

"You can't just come in and take over like this!" she screamed.

One of them walked over to her and extended a claw to her furry throat, watching as a trickle of blood fell onto the white fur beneath her chin, and smiling, his breath reeking of stale meat.

"I think you'll find we just did, and if you want to live then I suggest silence!" the first lion said, leering.

Realising defeat Isua stalked over to the other lionesses, head held high as the intruders laughed and watched her every move. They were lying by the bolder Shargra and Shanika were hiding behind "What can we do about those three?" she whispered.

"As I see it there's not much we can do; we just have to hope that the cubs don't come back" said one lioness.

"How can you say that, Shanika's your daughter!" Isua shouted.

"Mum…" Shanika whimpered, but was quickly hushed by an anxious Shargra.

" I know, but if they come back they'll be killed. What can we do? You're the only good fighter." said Shanika's mother.

"We have to fight back Mwenzi. It's the only way." Isua said.

"Look Isua we haven't got a chance against three full grown males - even if we had Bafsta we might not win!" Mwenzi said angrily. "Would you lead all the lionesses to certain death?"

"Where is Bafsta?" Isua asked, suddenly worried.

"How would I know? All we can do is hope he's alright and with the cubs." Mwenzi replied.

Shargra and Shanika looked at each other, horrified, and backed away from the rock.

"… We can't go back." Shargra whispered softly.

"What? But we must! This is our home!" stuttered Shanika.

"Shanika, I want to go back too but if we do we'll be killed." He sighed and looked back at his mother. "All we can do is to try to get out of here without dying. We might not manage that."

"But…" she began.

"No, Shanika we must go" Shargra said.

With that they both turned to leave. Shanika even stopped complaining, for in their hearts they both knew, as they set off towards the sun that shed it's dying rays across the Savannah, they knew they would never be able to go home.


	5. Chapter 5 : Shelter

**here's chapter 5 and thanks to erulasse for reviewing again**

**Chapter 5** **shelter**

The next morning the cubs woke up cold and hungry out in the open Savannah far away from their old home.

Shargra walked over to Shanika and nudged her with his paw. She groaned and rolled over. "Shanika! Wake up!"

"Mmph…f've more m'nutes!" she mumbled.

"SHANIKA!"

"I'm up!" cried Shanika, leaping to her feet. "Oh…it's you."

"Don't sound pleased to see me then."

Sarcasm was lost on Shanika. "Okay then, I won't. Hey Shargra?"

"Yes?"

"When are we going home?"

"We aren't."

"Oh. Hey Shargra?"

"Still here Shanika; there's not many other places I could be, though oh how I wish there was somewhere, somewhere without you."

"…whatever. Hey Shargra?"

"Yes Shanika?"

"Guess what. I'm hungry."

Shargra could stand it no longer. He flipped. "Well certainly Shanika, what would you like? We have a nice wildebeest steak done medium rare, or perhaps a zebra…"

"Oh! Pick me! Pick me!" shouted Shanika, leaping in the air. "I know! Pick me!"

"Yes, what is it Shanika?"

"WILDEBEESTWILDEBEESTWILDEBEESTWILDEBEEST!" she yelled, gabbling so it was all one word.

"I was joking."

The young lioness's eyes filled with tears. "You-you lied to me?" she sobbed, completely over the top. "We're not going to make it, are we? We're doomed!" she said dramatically, swooning into Shargra's paws. He moved out of the way and she fell to the floor with an 'Oof'.

"Shanika calm down, we'll be fine." Shargra said, trying to assure his friend of that which he was not sure of himself.

"But how can we survive? We're only cubs! We can't even catch our own food yet!" Shanika said, by now hyperventilating.

"We'll manage, how hard can it be?" Shargra said knowing full well how hard it was, having already tried it.

"Just think…it seems only yesterday we still had a home." Shanika said wistfully.

"It was only yesterday."

"Oh yes. Time passes so quickly, doesn't it?"

"Look, let's not think about that. We need to think about how we can survive - the first thing we need is shelter, I feel a storm coming on. Then we can worry about food." Shargra said, not wanting to think of his home or his family now.

"What! But food's much more important!" Shanika said indignantly.

"Oh yes, I forgot who I was talking to." Shargra said sarcastically, "Why did I have to get stuck with the food-crazed lion?"

"Hey I'm not food-crazed... I'm hungry," she said, following him along and yawning as they moved off.

"You just made my point for me." Shargra replied.

"Ok, ok, so I may be a bit food-crazed but that's not the point. The point is-"

"You're right, that's not the point." He said, scanning the horizon. "Come on, we have to find shelter."

Shanika still looked rather upset.

"I'll let you sing if you come!" Shargra said.

At this Shanika suddenly looked a lot happier, and she jumped up and started to sing.

"Why did I say that?" Shargra groaned under his breath.

"What was that?" Shanika said angrily.

"Oh nothing, come on let's go."

And he moved off again. After a few seconds he realized Shanika wasn't following. He turned to see her sitting on the ground, concentrating and cross-eyed.

"Shanika, what is it now?"

"I can't see my eyebrows." she said, "I want to see my eyebrows."

"Oh do come on!"

With that both cubs started walking to the horizon, Shanika singing something that sounded like 'We are one' but with different words.

_"As you eat a lot you'll see,_

_There is so much that we…can't eat enough._

_And the only thing I want_

_Right now is a pot_

_Of tasty stuff…"_

"Stop singing."

"But-"

"No buts. STOP."

Five minutes later "Shargra…"

"Yes, what is it Shanika?"

"My paws hurt."

"It's only been a few minutes! You realize this could take all day!" Shargra exploded.

She carried on walking, muttering nasty words under her breath. Shargra shook his head disbelievingly.

"Shargra…"

"Shanika, if this is about your paws, I will remove them." Shargra warned, gritting his teeth in a grin reminiscent of a hungry hyena.

"No, I was about to say that there's a cave. See, over there by that waterhole?" Shanika said.

"How on earth did you see that?" Shargra said surprised.

"I'm just so clever that's how." Shanika said smugly.

Shargra chose to ignore this and said, "So…let's go check it out."

The two cubs changed direction to walk over to the cave.

"This looks interesting." Shargra said while exploring the cave, "It's quite deep, sandy floor, if you weren't looking carefully you wouldn't see it and right outside there's a waterhole. We could live here for a while, It's perfect!"

"Good. Now you can say it, go on, admit it, who was right?"

"You." He admitted grudgingly.

"Oh yeah! I was right! Go me!" she screeched, darting off to explore the rest of it.

"For the first and only time," he muttered.

"Hey, Shargra come here and look at this!" Shanika shouted excitedly.

"Where are you?" Shargra said.

"Up here." Shargra looked up and saw her on top of the cave.

"What are you doing up there?"

"Just come take a look, will you?"

Mumbling, he clawed his way up the rock and up by her.

"So what's up then?" he gasped, panting and sweating from exhaustion.

"Look, over there on the horizon. What's that?" she asked.

"It's a big pointy rock, so what? It's got to be at least 30 miles away." Shargra said unimpressed. "You made me climb that rock for this?"

"Ok so maybe its nothing but it seemed important, so… when do we eat?" she said eagerly, ignoring his question.

"When we catch something, you want to try?" Shargra said.

"Ok, if it gets food I'll try anything!" giggled Shanika.

"Great. Then off you go." Shargra grinned.

"What! You're coming too!" said Shanika indignantly.

"That might work…but only lionesses hunt, so it won't." Shargra said.

"Sexist warthog. I'll sing," she said warily.

"Okay! I'm coming, just don't sing. Hopefully this wont take long." Shargra said.

Six hours later…

"At last we're back. Boy, whose stupid idea was it to go get food?" Shanika said.

"At least we're not hungry any more." Shargra said.

"Yeah but it took all day and we only got a bird. It's dark now." Shanika said.

He rolled his eyes. "Your powers of observation astound me. Look, we're back at the cave. Just go to sleep; tomorrow everything will be fine." he said, praying it would be true.

Looking incredibly dejected, Shanika flung herself on the ground. Shargra did the same, and closed his eyes, his head instantly filling with images of his mother, his father, their home, all he had ever known.

"I shall never be able to sleep in these conditions!" proclaimed Shanika, instantly falling into a deep sleep.

Shargra sighed and settled down again. Things would be better in the morning. He began to drift into sleep…

"Shargra?"

He frowned. "What?"

"I'm hungry."


	6. Chapter 6 : Shanika's birthday

**here's the 6th chapter and this is going somewhere, thanks erulasse for reviewing **

**Chapter 6**

The next morning Shanika woke up extremely early, yawned, realized something and leapt a foot in the air, landing on Shargra.

"Hey Shargra are you awake?" she said, nudging him. She got no response from this.

"Shargra!" she whined. Shanika bit him hard on the paw.

"Aahh! That hurt!"

"Are you awake?"

"No."

"Oh, okay." Shanika walked a little way away, frowned, walked back and shook him. "Shargra!"

"GO AWAY!" was the muffled response.

"So you are awake then!" she said brightly, and she was ignored again.

"Do you know what day it is?" She asked, undaunted.

"Thursday, isn't it? Now go away!" he said sleepily.

"No, it's my birthday, so what's my present?" Shanika said hopefully.

"You get to get me breakfast, now off you go!" Shargra said, rolling over onto his back.

"Why don't you get your own breakfast? It's my birthday!"

"Look, Shanika, you are the lioness. I am the lion. You hunt, I bark orders at you and snore a lot."

"You forgot didn't you, how could you forget?" she asked tearfully.

"Look, I'm sorry Shanika… I will get you something-" She breathed in, "- but only if you let me sleep!" Shanika let her breath out and with that he rolled over and went back to sleep.

Four hours later when the sun had started to rise, Shanika bit him again.

"WILL YOU STOP DONG THAT?"

"Hey Shargra! It's morning now and I want you to come and see something!" Shanika said.

"Can't it wait?" Shargra groaned, still half asleep.

"No! Come now!" she grinned, and started to pull on his ear.

"Get off! I'll come, I'll come" he sighed, slowly getting up.

Shanika led him out of the cave and began to climb on top of it.

"Shanika, I've seen the big rock, I don't want to see it again, okay?" Shargra said.

"I know you've seen it but something's happened. Please?" Shanika said.

"Okay," he said exasperatedly and started to climb.

Eventually he reached the top. "So what is this incredibly important thing?" he said, panting once more.

"Look over there - what's happening at the rock?" Shanika asked.

"Loads of animals are gathered around it and I think there's someone standing on it…" said Shargra, squinting. "Yes- yes, someone holding something up!"

"Where?"

"Over there!"

"Ow!"

"Screw up your eyes and don't look directly at the sun."

"Oh, oh, that's better. Gee Shargra, how'd you learn all this stuff."

He groaned again. "Years of practice, Shanika."

"I think I see it now. What do you think it is?" Shanika asked, still looking closely at the rock.

"I don't know but it doesn't affect us so it doesn't matter," he said, starting to climb down, "and if you don't mind I'm now going to live up to my name as a lion and go and have a lie-in!"

"That's a very old joke!" Shanika shouted after him.

"Whatever! You coming?"

"No, I'll stick up here for a while."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Shanika stared at the rock in fascination, and suddenly ducked as a hornbill flew over her head. He gave her a haughty look and continued on his way, and as the tiny figure held up the object the animals let out a great cheer.

She looked over at the rock as some more figures joined the other. It was important, that she knew. Very important. She just didn't know why.

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please review 


	7. Chapter 7 : 'fluffy'

**thanks to blondenbeautiful for reviewing **

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**Chapter 7 'fluffy'**

"Shanika, you've been up there for 3 hours now. Come down!" Shargra shouted.

"But its interesting!" she shouted back.

"So what's happening?" Shargra asked.

"Nothing, they've all gone." she replied, scratching her ear.

"Just come down!" Shargra called up to her.

She started to cheer as she saw two lions come out of a cave on the rock,

"Go lions! Go lions! Brown blob, brown blob, you're the guy!

Now teach that hornbill how to fly!"

"What? What on earth are you talking about?" Shargra shouted.

"I dunno, it just seemed appropriate." said Shanika, shrugging.

"Appropriate to what?" he shouted, trying and failing to climb up.

"There are two lions by the rock; one brown and one gold colored. Oooh! The brown one just swallowed the bird that flew into me earlier! Yay!" Shanika shouted back

"Shanika, you're mad." he said he turned to walk off but didn't get too far - because Shanika jumped of the rock onto him.

"Take that back!" she screeched.

"Get off!" Shargra shouted back.

"When you take it back," she demanded.

"Ok, you're not mad - YOU'RE INSANE!"

"Why thank you Shargra!" Shanika said primly not knowing what insane meant

Later that day, when it had got dark, Shargra was sitting alone in the cave resting when he heard Shanika walk in - oddly quiet. This was quite possibly due to the small creature she had dangling from her chops.

"There you are Shanika! Where've you been, you've been hours!" he said.

"I've got a pet!" she said in a muffled, gleeful voice. "I found him by a tree and we've been playing all day!"

"A pet!" he asked incredulously.

"Help me!" a small voice shouted.

Shargra got up and turned around and saw Shanika with something dangling in her mouth. "Shanika that's a meercat! We eat those!"

"Yes eat me! It must be better than being with **_her_**! She's insane!" the animalshouted.

"Shanika let the poor thing go! I know what its like living with you and death would be a mercy!" Shargra said, trying to reason with her.

"WHAT! No, he's my pet! I'm going to keep him forever and name him Fluffy!" she said.

Timon watched the exchange between the two lions with interest. Maybe they were insane, he thought. Or perhaps just crazy.

"If it's not bad enough that I've been kidnapped by a mad lion I also have to suffer the indignity of being called fluffy? Oy, oy, oy. My names Timon!" the meercat shouted, indignantly. Shanika totally ignored him.

"Shanika, you should really not have that in your mouth! You don't know where it's been" Shargra said, slightly irritated.

"You're right! I'll give him a bath!" with that she walked out of the cave. A loud splash was heard swiftly flowed by some terrified screaming. Finally Shanika walked back in with a soaking shivering meercat. 'Fluffy', shaking and slightly neurotic scurried into a corner, muttering "Scurry, sniff, flinch, scurry…" over and over. "Happy now? Fluffy's all clean" Shanika said, sitting down and 'playing' with the meercat - i.e. batting it between her paws singing "In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight!"

"Awimba way, awimba, way..." Shargra found himself singing in a bass tone underneath it. "Hey, shut up! Can't we just eat it? I haven't eaten all day!"

"No! He's not an it! He's Fluffy!"

"Oh, go on!"

"Oh, fine!" she said, lowering her jaw to snap up Timon.

"Aahh!" he screamed, dodging out of the way. "No! You can't eat me!"

She stopped with her face halfway to the floor. "You're right! I need seasoning! Be right back!" And she darted off, scurrying back and forth, picking up bits of berries and leaves and sitting on them to crush them.

'Fluffy' sat down next to Shargra. "Is she…always like this?"

"Yes." He sighed, having a foresight that this might well be a frequently asked question.

"I'm baack!" she said, running up and looking excited.

"Shanika, we're lions. We eat meat RAW."

"Oh yeah." She paused. "What was I doing again?"

"Shanika - just stop torturing it and go to sleep." Shargra said, sticking his head firmly on the floor.

Shanika muttered something but stopped mucking around and lay down with 'Fluffy' under her paw. Her eyes closed and she mumbled "G'night Fluffy," falling asleep.

Soon the only sounds coming from the cave were two sets of muffled snores. Only two.

Timon opened one eye, and when he was sure Shanika was asleep 'Fluffy' slipped out from Shanika's paw and ran from the cave, free from oppression. It was too good to last.

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please review


	8. Chapter 8 : leaving the wilderness

**ok heres the next chapter thanks to Kiara32 for reviewing **

**and now for somthing completly diffrent... sorry, had to say that

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Chapter 8 - leaving the wilderness

It was early when Shargra woke he looked around to see what woke him - this was instantly obvious; there was only one lion who would do that.

"Shanika get off! You're too big to do that anymore! I don't want a teenage lioness using me as a cushion!" he shouted trying to push her off him but she was too heavy to move.

"Shanika wake up!" he shouted.

Shanika opened half an eye and said in a muffled voice "Shanika is not available at the moment, please leave a message after the tone. BEEEP!"

"Shanika stop being stupid and** get off!" **he shouted, he'd known Shanika for his entire life and she was even less mature than she was the day she was born. Come to think of it, the few years they had spent in this cave, whilst it might have had a positive affect on both their heaths, she had only got more insane. Indeed, Shanika, a lot younger than him, barely remembered their old home.

"Shanika, if you don't get off now you will never get food again!" he warned warily, well aware he could never do that to her.

At this Shanika shot up "I'm sorry Shargra! I'm sorry! Please don't do that to me! I'll do anything! Anything!" she begged, breaking into desperate sobs.

"Okay Shanika, let's go get breakfast ok?" Shargra said trying to calm her down. Of course, it didn't work. 'Breakfast' was one of the few words that Shanika adored, the others being 'lunch', 'elevenses', 'tea', 'dinner' 'supper' and 'food'.

Shanika didn't need an answer to this she just ran to the entrance of the cave and out into the Savannah, bounding around in joyful leaps. Her food craziness did nothing to fatten her up, Shargra thought as he grumpily got to his feet. Lucky so and so.

He trotted to the end of the cave and…

"You're stuck again, aren't you?" asked Shanika, running up.

"No!"

"Then what are you doing? Admiring the view? Scratching your butt on the cave wall? Or, god forbid…EXERCISING?"

"That is quite enough of the weight jokes thank you Shanika!" he yelled, "Here, pull me out."

Shanika grabbed his outstretched paw in her teeth and pulled, as he came out of the gap with a 'pop'!

"Well, looks like it's time to move on." he said, scratching his chin with his paw in a thoughtful manner.

The lioness gasped. "Moving? Oh, let me get a few things!" And she darted back inside.

"You're a lion, how many things can you have?" Shargra called after her.

She ran back out with a shiny rock in between her teeth, dropped it, ran back in the cave, and ran back out again with another rock until she had a pile of about five feet high.

"I didn't know you had that many shiny rocks!" he said, surprised.

"Well, you never asked, did you?" she replied over her shoulder, darting back in. "And now my most prized possession…"

There was a long pause. "Shanika, that's a leaf."

"Exactly!" she said triumphantly.

Shargra sighed. "Leave it all there and come on."

They started to move off. "I still don't get why we have to leave."

"Because we've outgrown the cave, the waterhole is drying up and you are driving me insane! Neither of us have seen another lion, no, make that another creature -"

"Except Fluffy!"

"-Except Fluffy - and you don't even remember what our old home looked like any more! We need other company."

"Oh. Do I really drive you insane?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"YES!" Shargra shouted, taking it for another playful question.

"Oh." Shanika wiped the tears from her eyes and walked along behind him, as they headed towards the big rock, and 'civilization'.

"Are we there yet?" Shanika asked.

"Don't start that again, you do that everywhere we go!" he answered

"Oh, why are we going this way?" she asked.

"Because we saw lions at the big pointy rock didn't we?"

"Oh yeah, when do we eat?"

"Go feed yourself to a hyena!" he shouted, resisting the urge to launch himself at her and strangle her.

"Oh…okay." She said, wandering off sadly.

Shargra looked over to her, and realised the consequences of using sarcasm on Shanika. "Hey! Don't get upset you fool, I was being sarcastic! Fool of a lioness!" he said, in a desperate attempt to cheer her up.

"Oh, okay." And they started walking again.

"What's the air velocity of a laden swallow?" Shanika asked.

"Hmm…? Oh, European or African?" mused Shargra in reply.

"African. Carrying a coconut."

"Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?"

"Not at all, they could be carried on a creeper."

"What, under the dorsal feathers?"

_Hey guys? That's copywrited._

"Who are you?" asked Shargra, looking wildly around.

_I'm the author._ And I'm the beta! Hi!

"Oh. Will you go away now, you're scaring Shanika." The lioness in question was quivering under a rock.

_Well fine then! _Yeah, don't go expecting any help from us! You can narrate your own story! _Don't be rude to my characters!_ Well they were rude to me!

"Um, hello? We're kind of having our lives wasted here."

_(in unison) Oh. Sorry._

"That's fine. Come on Shanika, I think I see a lion and a smaller lion sitting on the rock."

Shanika squinted ahead. "Oh yeah! Cool!"

Of course, the lions on the rock were blissfully unaware of the dramatic bombshell that was about to hit them…and the war with Scar would be pretty bad too.

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please review 


	9. Chapter 9 : Meeting the king

**ok the next chapter**

**Chapter 9 -** **Meeting the king**

The two lions had been walking for nearly 4 hours - with Shanika singing constantly - and they were nearing the rock.

"Shargra?" Shanika asked.

"Yes Shanika?" he replied.

"Is this the way to Amarillo?"

Shargra exploded. "What on earth are you talking about!" He exclaimed, turning to face Shanika, "There is no such place!"

"Yes there is! It's...it's…somewhere…" Shanika suddenly looked worriedly at a point just behind Shargra.

"There's something behind me isn't there?"

Shanika just nodded and hid behind a small bush with a squeak.

Shargra turned round and saw a lion almost twice the size of him. The lion was golden-brown in color with a full brown mane, towering over him with an angry look and Shargra just stared for a minute; when suddenly a loud noise came from the bush Shanika was hiding behind. Seconds later Shanika rolled out from behind it, growling and shoulders high up in the 'defence' position. Forgetting about the immediate problem Shargra turned, bewildered, and seconds later a small cub pounced out on to her - obviously trying to fight her.

"Look dad" the cub shouted, "I caught one of the trespassers!"

"Trespassers?" spluttered Shanika. "Oh that's it kiddo, you're going down!" and she pounced on the sandy cub, rolling about in the dust.

Shanika and the cub continued fighting - both doing as bad as each other - whilst Shargra and the lion sat and watched transfixed. The lion spoke "So...do you know her?" indicating Shanika who was by now losing to the small cub.

"No, no, never seen her in my life." he said, trying to distance himself from the mad lioness.

"You know the cub?"

The lion looked at the cub, who was now being sat on by Shanika, and assessing his pitiful fighting skill said "Nope, never seen him before."

The cub heard this and shouted "Hey dad don't try to disown me!"

Shargra looked at the lion, one eyebrow raised, who said, "Ok, ok he's my son, but I bet you know her too"

"Yes but we're not related," And he added as the small cub managed to pin Shanika to the ground, "fortunately."

Shanika pushed him off her and giving the cub a cuff to the head, started to walk back to her friend. The cub leapt at her, attempting a roar.

Grinning, she turned to him and: "RAAAUUGH!" The cub ran to his father, tail between his legs but a mischievous look on his face.

"Shanika, I cant believe you lost to a tiny cub!"

"Well… he is a strong cub" she admitted.

"You see what I have to live with?" Shargra said to the lion.

"So what are you two doing in my lands? And who are you anyway? And why is your lioness beating up my son?" he replied.

"My…lioness?"

There was a long pause and then Shargra and Shanika both simultaneously went "Eww!" before exploding in laughter.

"She isn't my lioness but she is my friend; and by the look of it it's your son attacking her!" Shargra squeezed out between laughs.

"Ahhhh, thanks Shargra!" Shanika said from where she was rolling on the ground.

"And we're in your land because our pride's king got overthrown when we were cubs and we had to run away. We've been living in the open savanna but we can't stay on our own forever, so-"

"So you want to join my pride, right?"

"Yes that's kind of it." Shargra said pulling Shanika up from the ground, who then proceeded to chase her tail.

"Well, I can't say no to cubs." the lion said, smiling.

"Hey, we're not cubs!" Shanika said indignantly.

"If your not a cub then where's his mane and your…other assets? You may be older than my cub Simba, but you're still cubs." The lion said, still smiling that irritating smile.

"Ok, ok, so you'll take us in?" Shargra said hopefully.

"Yes, alright follow us, by the way I'm Mufasa, who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Shargra and this is-"

"The great all-powerful Shanika, ruler of the world, goddess of all ye beneath her, queen and utmost power on high-" Shanika proclaimed, standing on her hind legs before toppling over.

"Is she… always like that?" Mufasa whispered to Shargra.

"Yes, unfortunately." Shargra groaned answering the now familiar question.

They both followed Mufasa and Simba back to the big rock, their new home Shanika singing all the way.

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please review 


	10. Chapter 10 : Shanika makes an impression

**sorry about the long wait it was school, it problaly dosent matter as I dont think anyones reading this but... **

**Chapter 10 - Shanika makes an impresion  
**

When they arrived Mufasa turned to them and tried to speak but he couldn't be heard over Shanika who was singing a ridiculous tune...for the 52nd time.

"Wildebeest…

Zebra's…

Dinner as plain as -"

"Shanika shut up!" Shargra shouted. This having no effect he put his paw over her mouth.

"Thank you!" Mufasa said relieved, "Now up there is my pride's cave and before you go up there and meet them you must listen; most of them you should have no trouble with but there is one you should look out for."

"Who? Who? WHO?" asked Shanika, jumping up and down.

"He's my brother and resents the fact he isn't king, and because of that he hates anyone and anything that annoys him. Especially little lionesses." Mufasa added pointedly.

"Okay we'll be careful," Shargra said, cuffing Shanika on the ear as a reminder.

"Huh? I wasn't listening." said Shanika, abandoning the broken gourd on the ground.

They followed Mufasa to the cave.

At the sight of other lions Shanika went mad and started running all over the place.

"Right you lot," Mufasa started, "these are Shargra and Shanika. They're rouges and they're coming to live here so let's be nice to them. Okay?"

The lions in the cave gave them blank looks. "Who...what...how...why is that lioness on the roof?"

"Shanika you can't walk on the roof!" Shargra shouted.

"Oh yeah!" she said falling to the floor.

"How did you do that?" Shargra asked, bewildered.

"There are paw-holes in the wall," she answered casually.

Shargra went over to the wall. It was smooth as marble. "No there aren't!"

Shanika went up to him, patting his head. "Oh, Shargra, Shargra, Shargra."

"What?" he asked.

"Shargra, Shargra, Shargra."

"What?"

"I've forgotten."

"Who are you two?" one lioness said.

"And what's wrong with her?" said another.

"Oh, I'm Shargra," he said nervously, and wondering why they hadn't listened to Mufasa before, "and this is Shanika. She's" and here he whispered, "a little M-A-D."

"Ohhhhhhh." said the lionesses in unison.

"Well," said one, coming forward, "I'm Sarabi, and I'm Mufasa's mate. Welcome to the pride.

"Thanks for letting us in."

"Hey Shargra, let's go explore!" Shanika said.

Without waiting for an answer she ran out of the cave. With an apologetic look to Sarabi Shargra rolled his eyes and followed. When he got outside and onto the rock she was nowhere to be seen. "Shanika where are you?"

"Over here!" she shouted, her head appearing from behind the cave wall.

Shargra walked around and saw Shanika sitting on a brown lion with a black mane, and a long thin scar over one eye. He was growling, rippled lips and bared teeth.

"Shanika… I don't think that's a good idea," he said, watching Shanika pull on the obviously annoyed lion's ear.

"Don't worry, he likes it." smiled Shanika, patting the dark lion on the head in a motherly way.

"No, I don't!" said the lion gritting his teeth.

"Yes you do." Shanika frowned, looking confused.

"No I do NOT!" the lion shouted firmly.

"Yes. You. Do!" Shanika shouted back just as firmly.

"**No I do NOT**!" the lion bellowed.

"Shanika I- I think that's the lion we're meant to avoid." Shargra whispered.

Shanika ignored him and said "YES YOU DO!" in a voice that suggested suicidal tendencies.

Shargra decided to leave them to it and walked off, sighing. Gently, he lay down at the caves entrance. "Three… two … one…"

A screech of pure undiluted terror emerged from the cave and after about two seconds Shanika charged out, looked around desperately, and then ran and hid behind Shargra, shaking.

"You know, I think that's the lion we're meant to avoid." she said, trembling.

"And why would you possibly think that then?" Shargra asked, grinning triumphantly.

"Because he tried to EAT me!" she shouted.

"Well I hate to say I told you so…"

"But?" asked Shanika warily, well aware of his sense of humour.

"But I told you so!" and with that he turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" she asked indignantly, scurrying to keep up and every so often throwing a glance over her shoulder in a nervous way.

"Shanika, it's getting dark. I'm going to sleep, you know, what normal lions do at night? Okay with you?"

He walked into the cave with Shanika following, tail between her legs.

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**shanikas song at the start of the chapter is to the tune of 'one of us' incase anyone wanted to know  
**

**please review**


	11. Chapter 11 : Disobediance

**Thanks to Bounding Jackalope for reviewing here's the next chapter earlier than planned.**

**Chapter 11 - Disobediance  
**

The next day when Shargra woke he decided to leave before Shanika got up.

'I'll have a nice quiet day' he thought, grateful to whatever deity had arranged the circumstances. He managed to get past all the sleeping lions and sighed out of relief. Now to explore his new home. At least, he hoped it would be his home.

It was still early as he walked through the long grass, insects buzzing about his feet.

On a whim he caught a little grey mouse, dangled it by it's tail, then on second thoughts decided against it and let it go. The mouse squeaked it's thanks and scurried off. Two episodes that rodent had had with lions in recent years.

'Mental note' the mouse thought, 'avoid that rock.'

Indeed the plains here were abundant with rich life. Shargra continued walking until he found a tree that, with thin cooling branches, provided shade from the sun and he was just falling asleep when there was a rustling sound from the bushes. Shargra looked up.

"Who is it? Who's there? Come out or else," he warned.

There was more rustling and a very scared looking hyena came out, shaking. "I know I'm not allowed in your lands sir and I'm sorry but please don't kill me!" she squeaked, looking at the ground.

"Who are you?" Shargra asked the quivering hyena.

"My name's Nasiha, please don't kill me!" she squealed again.

"Don't worry, I wont kill you and these aren't my lands. I've just been taken in by the pride." Shargra said.

"You won't kill me?" Nasiha said disbelievingly, still shaking.

"No, it's good to have someone sane to talk to for once." he smiled.

"Why are you being nice to me? I thought you lions hated us," she said taking a step closer.

"When I was a cub... Okay, a younger cub I met one of you and she was quite friendly, so now I think we're wrong about you." he explained.

"So you like hyenas?" Nasiha asked.

"I suppose I must." he answered.

Nasiha sat down, looking much more relaxed. "So if you're a lion, where's your mane?" she asked, trying to make polite conversation.

"I don't have one yet, I'm not full grown." Shargra said reluctantly, when suddenly there was another sound from the bush and Shanika jumped out. "Hey Shargra, what's up?"

"Oh no, how did you find me this time?"

"Who's that?" Nasiha asked nervously.

"Oh that's just Shanika, she won't kill you. In fact you should be more worried about her trying to make you her pet."

"Nothing could ever replace Fluffy!" Shanika shouted.

"See? She's harmless!" Shanika started chewing her tail "…to everyone but herself."

"Is she always like that?" Nasiha asked, staring at the mad lioness.

"Yes, and if one more person asks me that I'll go mad!"

""Shargra, what's she doing here?" Shanika whined, walking up to the hyena and poking her.

"She has a name and I'm talking to her, that's why she's here." Shargra said.

"Mufasa will kill you Shargra, they're not allowed in these lands!" said Shanika, staring nervously at a spot behind Shargra's left ear. "Um…"

"How will he find out?"

"Well he's-" Shanika was cut off.

"Right behind you" said Mufasa's voice angrily "What are you doing in my lands?" he asked Nasiha calmly, "You know the penalty for entering the Pridelands!"

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't mean to cause offence, please don't kill me I have pups!" Nasiha begged.

His face softened slightly, "Well if that's the case then I'll let you go, this time, just don't come back!" Mufasa said.

And within a second Nasiha was gone.

"And you! You idiot, you could have been killed! I will not have any members of my pride taking stupid risks! Especially not cubs. What did you think you were doing!" he shouted.

"I was just talking, what harm can that do?" Shargra said.

"Don't you realise what she was? I'm very disappointed in you." And with that he turned and walked back to pride rock. Of course, he didn't notice the 'Kick me' painted on his back in berry juice.

"You've really done it now Shargra." Shanika said shaking her head and licking the red juice from her paws.

"Why did you bring him here?" Shargra yelled at his friend.

"When I woke up you weren't there, and he offered to help find you!" Shanika explained cheerfully.

"I wasn't lost Shanika," he growled.

"Yes you were." she said happily.

"No I wasn't." Shargra said.

"Yes you were." Shanika said firmly.

Shargra decided to ignore this, as he just could not be bothered to argue with her - it was a pointless exercise as she never seemed to understand the logic of 'You can't eat gravel, Shanika.'

"Let's go and find the waterhole, okay Shanika? I'm thirsty."

'Yay!' she shouted and sped off. Shargra groaned good-naturedly and ambled after her.

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please review, or Shanika will sing 


	12. Chapter 12 : Shanika sings again

**Chapter 12 - Shanika sings (again)**

Shargra was trying to stop Shanika from singing without much luck as they neared the waterhole. "Do you have to sing the same song over and over again?"

"Yes, I do." she said. Just then she spotted two of the pride's cubs heading in the same direction as them, the small one they had seen the other day, Simba, and a female cub, being led by a small blue bird.

"Just wait here a minute." she said and ran over to the cubs. After about five minutes of whispered conversation and a lot of paw-gestures she walked back over. "Okay, we can go now"

"What were you doing?" Shargra asked, perplexed.

"I had to teach them a song that will be very important to them." she said, grinning. "At least somebody appreciates my musical talents!"

"Whatever."

As they neared the waterhole the world behind them burst in the multicolored song and dance, and the faintest traces of a tune and lyrics: "I just can't wait to be king!"

Shanika felt the satisfaction of a job well done, and said so.

"Told you it was a good song."

Shargra watched, stunned, as an entire song and dance routine unfolded in front of him. Music came from nowhere, the world turned into bright colors, and everything suddenly exploded into sound.

"I don't believe it," he mouthed as they were passed by the two cubs riding on an ostrich, "This entire place is as mad as Shanika!"

Eventually the song ended and everything went back to normal – as normal as things ever were when Shanika was around.

"I don't know how you did that but I know it had something to do with you!" Shargra shouted, "Was that the song you taught them?"

"Yep! Great wasn't it?" she grinned maniacally.

"No, it was awful! What possessed you to teach them that?" he questioned. Shanika didn't answer, because she was too busy screaming in terror and running up the nearest tree.

"'What on earth's wrong with you? Get down, I want to get to the waterhole!"

"There's a... there's a..." she stuttered.

Shargra turned and saw a small rabbit, sitting on the ground with an inquisitive look. It was the sweetest thing he'd ever seen, with long floppy ears and a twitching nose. "Oh Shanika, not the bunny thing again."

"It's after me, I tell you!" she shouted. "My ankles…the bunny wants my ankles…"

"Shanika, let's go through this again. The bunny is not going to eat you, nor is it going to grab your ankles, nor do you need to keep locking it up."

"It is! Bunnies are evil!"

Shargra took this opportunity to help himself to a snack. Carefully, he raised a paw-

A few minutes later… "Shanika, it's gone, you can come down now!" he said, licking his chops and spitting out a discarded fluffy tail.

"Are you sure?" she asked, quivering.

"Quite sure." he burped.

"Eww, Shargra, that's disgusting…were you eating something without me?" she demanded.

"Oh, just get down here!" he said, tugging on her tail with his teeth and pulling her from the tree. This was a mistake, as, in that precise way ONLY Shanika knew how to achieve, she landed smack on his chest. "Did you have to do that?" Shargra coughed, muffled by the little lioness.

Shanika ignored him, taking this chance to examine her claws.

"Shanika, get off! Bad lioness, bad!" And he whacked her on the nose with his paw. "I'd like to reach the waterhole before midnight!"

"Shargra, you got it wrong! It's not bad lioness, it's bad wolf!" she said, climbing off him.

Shargra stared for a second "Shanika... You're a lion, not a wolf... You do know that, right?" he said, puzzled.

"Yes, but the phrase is bad wolf," she said patiently, with the air of one explaining something simple to a very small cub.

With that she jumped into the nearest bush, and engaged in some rustling, before leaping out covered in purple berry juice. "I'm mauve and dangerous!" she yelled, and she ran off toward the center of the Pridelands – completely the opposite direction to the water.

Wondering exactly why he put up with her, he ran after the lioness. The waterhole probably wasn't that good anyway

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please review (10 points if you can guess what TV show I was watching reacently) 


	13. Chapter 13 : a song shanika didnt sing

**Thank you bounding jackalope for reviewing and no that wasnt the show the clue is in shanikas 'bad wolf' refrence, its from an english tv show called 'doctor who'  
**

**Chapter 13 – a song shanika didnt sing  
**

By the time Shargra had caught up with Shanika she had run halfway across the Pridelands. "Shanika what are you doing! What is wrong with you?" he thought for a minute. "Actually, don't answer that or we'll be here all day."

"I decided the waterhole was boring, so we're going somewhere else" Shanika said happily.

"Correction Shanika you may want to but I don't. I'm too tired after chasing you!" he laughed, sitting down and rolling over onto his back in the dust.

"Okay, bye then!" and she ran off.

Hoping that she would not get in to too much trouble Shargra grimaced and closed his eyes for a rest, basking in the midday sun. He dreamt…

He dreamt of a warthog and a meercat standing, silhouetted against the rain on the rock, and of a lion in the sky reaching down and pulling the scarred lion from the rock. He dreamt of a hyena, leaping, jaws stretched… He fought the hyena, pulling it to the ground, and preparing to rip out it's throat when-

"WAKE UP!" someone shouted right in his ear. He jumped 6 feet in the air and spun around. "Shanika? Don't ever do that again!" he growled.

"Sorry, but you have to see my new pet!" she said excitedly.

"Oh Shanika, not again, the readers will get bored with this! Can't the author think of anything new?"

"What?" Shanika asked, looking bemused.

Shargra realised his mistake, and hurriedly added, "I mean _I'm _getting bored with this. Let's see it then," he said, resigned to it. Shanika stepped aside and revealed… a simple looking hyena with its tongue hanging out.

"He's called Fluffy Two! No, maybe Ed…No, Fluffy Two! Isn't he _sweet?_" she giggled.

"Shanika, that's a hyena." he said incredulously.

"I know." she smirked.

"You don't like hyenas, Shanika,"

"Yes, but this one does tricks! Look," she turned to the hyena, "Sit!" It sat. "Roll over!" It rolled over. "Beg!" In answer to that it raised its front paws in the air and made whimpering sounds.

Shargra watched in amazement as it slobbered affectionately, tongue bright red and laughing all the time. "It's as mad as you are!" He said, no thoroughly disturbed by this place. " And you can't keep it."

"But-"

"No buts, it goes." Shargra said firmly

"You're mean!" she whined, but nonetheless she turned to the hyena and said reluctantly, "I'm sorry Fluffy Two but you have to go." The hyena looked sad for a second but then ran away laughing.

Shanika didn't know it, but a few hours later that hyena would be found by a pack, who would ask it it's name and it would answer. The name it would give would be 'Ed.' That hyena would then commence to eat the matriarch's leg, for no apparent reason, as there was food in front of it.

"That's the last time I leave you alone, come on we'd better get home."

"Home?" she echoed. "I thought you said we could never go home!"

Shargra turned to her. "This is our home now, Shanika!"

"Oh…is it?"

Shargra grabbed Shanika by the ear and started to pull her to Pride Rock.

Five minutes later they were walking up to the cave. "Are we nearly there yet?" Shanika whined.

"Oh don't do that! Please, just anything but that!" Shargra begged.

There was a voice from the cave. "Simba I'm very disappointed with you…"

"Looks like someone's in trouble." Shanika muttered. "Let's get a closer look!"

"Let's not. Let's not go in yet - this is probably an awkward moment."

"Awkward slushy or awkward I-just-peed-myself?"

"Awkward slushy."

"Eww!" They walked to the end of the rock and only then did Shargra realise the implications of this statement. "You were rooting for the other one!"

Suddenly he pricked his ears up. "Is it me or is there someone singing? Shanika what have you done now?"

"It wasn't me, honest!" she said and for once she sounded sincere.

They stood, hearing snatches of the terrifying tune on the wind, which Shanika picked up and began humming. The rock trembled beneath their paws.

The wind changed direction and the voices could be heard clearly, floating from across the Savannah. "Yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared, be prepared!" The song descended into maniacal laughter.

Shargra and Shanika looked at each other with a sudden feeling of foreboding.

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please review 


	14. Chapter 14 : a new king

**Sorry this is late but I was on holaday, thank you again Bounding Jackalope for reviewing the last chapter  
**

**Chapter 14 - a new king**

It had been a few weeks since they had arrived in their new home and even Shanika had started to settle in – despite Scar's attempts to murder her. It was late in the morning and the king had already started his patrol, roaming the lands to check it was safe. Shargra had asked to go with them, begged even, so he could get something to do, but they'd d said he was too young. Consequently, he was stuck here.

Shanika was lying on her back in the centre of the cave, right in everyone's way as usual. This, however, was deliberate. She too was too young to go out hunting with the other lionesses, and was now making everyone's lives hell in an attempt to make her point. By now the other lions were used to Shanika and just stepped on her to get past. Shargra had been woken up a few moments ago by someone singing. Of course, it was normal for him; he had got used to being woken up like this a long time ago. It was hard not to when living with Shanika.

"Shut up Shanika! It's too early for singing!" he growled at her.

"I'm not singing, it's one of the pride's cubs." she replied.

Shargra sat up and looked around sceptically, but he was surprised to see that she was right. It was the only female cub…Nili, was it? Nola? - loudly singing in the corner of the cave.

"I said it would be a famous song someday! You said it was bad but I was right!" Shanika said triumphantly.

"What are you talking about Shanika?" Shargra wondered, but then he remembered that was one of the songs she sang as a cub. "At least she can actually sing, unlike you." He muttered, not wanting to be proven wrong by Shanika.

The cub in question was singing 'the circle of life' but better than Shanika's version - as it wasn't just about food. An idea entered Shargra's mind.

"Come on Shanika, let's get food ok?" he suggested.

"Food!" Shanika shouted and ran to the cave entrance where she ran right into Scar.

"Get out of my way!" he snarled, and swiped his claws at her missing by inches. Even Shanika was scared of this lion, and she made a small whimpering noise, scampering back over to Shargra. "I have a sad announcement to make to everyone, gather the pride and have them come out to the base of Pride Rock." He nodded at Sarabi, and stalked out.

At this all the lions started talking worriedly and they all made for the exit.

"What do you think has happened?" Shanika asked nervously, but they ignored her. "Shargra?"

"I don't know, but it must be bad. I mean, look how happy Scar's looking!" her friend winked.

"He's called brown lion!" Shanika said forcibly.

"No Shanika, if you don't want him to kill you, he's called Scar. If he's not in earshot then he can be called that scarred git - or at least that's what Mufasa calls him sometimes. Look, let's go and find out what's happened, okay? It sounds important." Together the two lions walked down to the base of the rock to see what he had to say. The sun was high in the sky, casting shadows across the plains, and despite their agitation, they had to wait for the other pride members who were out on hunt. Shanika growled as they walked up. "Stupid lionesses think they're so great. I could catch something if I wanted - stupidstupidlionesseshatethemtheythinkthey'resogreat!" she muttered angrily, darting looks of such venom at them that Shargra had to stifle a giggle. It was late afternoon before Scar went up onto the rock to speak to them. Shargra couldn't help but notice that although Scar portrayed a solemn expression, he had a twinkle of joy in his eye.

"I'm afraid I have some rather bad news to give you all. Mufasa and Simba were both killed in a stampede earlier today" He paused for a second, and a silence as thick as any fog fell over the pride. Several lionesses began to cry, and yet more shouted out things like things like "No!" and "It can't be!" But the largest cry came from Sarabi, who let out a large, heart-rendering wail of grief. With sobs breaking her words she whispered "No…no, please, Scar, no!"

At this point Mufasa's advisor Zazu spoke up. "I'm afraid Scar's right, my queen. I saw the stampede with my own eyes," he said gently.

The lions were standing in shock, and Shargra looked at Shanika, a few tears in his own eyes, only to see to his surprise that she wasn't crying, but was shooting hate-filled glares at Scar, who, oblivious, continued with his speech "Mufasa's death was a terrible tragedy; but to lose Simba, who had barely begun to live - for me it is a deep personal loss," and Sarabi wailed again.

Shargra watched Nala, who was still a cub, tug on her mother's ear. "Mum, what's he saying? I don't understand," she whispered, and she too was crying.

Sarabi sobbed a few more times. "No, no, please…" she whispered.

Scar continued: "So it is with a heavy heart that I assume the throne," and Shanika growled. Shargra looked at her in puzzlement, and wiped his tears away with his paw. He didn't like Scar, but if he had to prove himself to a new king, he was damned if he wasn't going to.

"Yet, out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise to greet the dawning of a new era in which lion and hyena come together, in a great and glorious future!"

Suddenly Shanika screamed loudly; for as he spoke several hyenas appeared from behind the rock behind him, grinning maniacally.

Scar nodded to all of them, and disappeared inside the cave. Zazu instantly flew over to comfort the queen, as did all of the others, but Shargra and Shanika held back.

"Mufasa, Simba, gone?" Shanika said without her usual cheerfulness. "That lousy rotten lion for a king? No! This can't have been an accident! Mufasa's not an idiot! How did this happen?" There was no trace of humour in her voice – instead pure anger.

"I don't know," said Shargra "but I bet Scar did have something to do with it. I mean, he always wanted to be king; now he is. But he wouldn't kill his brother, would he? I mean, come on, there are some things even Scar wouldn't do."

"I wouldn't put anything past Brown Lion."

"True…he does look way too happy now. I think things are taking a turn for the worse, Shanika…"

"And we're right in the middle of it." She finished sadly, and suddenly the air grew a lot colder as the sun finally set, and they huddled together for warmth.

They looked out over the Pridelands, and Shargra realised their lives were about to come a lot more difficult.

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please review 


	15. Chapter 15 : scar’s tyranny

**thanks again for the reviews (sorry if I'm repeating myself) **

**Chapter 15 –scar's tyranny **

Time had passed since Scar had taken over Pride Rock, joy of joys, Shargra had FINALLY started to grow a mane. Shanika had barely stopped whimpering all day, since she had learnt that Scar (or that HORRIBLE Brown git as she called him) wanted to see her in his cave. ('HIS cave? How dare he call it HIS cave?' she had screamed.

It had been several hours since she had disappeared now, and Shargra was beginning to get worried that Shanika was in serious trouble – she was still annoying to Scar, shouted rude words at him, and both she and Shargra were well known for having preferred Mufasa as king – because lions had a nasty habit of 'disappearing' when Scar was annoyed with them.

In short, Scar's rule was a tyranny, and Shargra was just debating whether to charge into Scar's cave and demand they release his friend when a very angry looking Shanika appeared at the caves entrance and stormed in.

"Shanika, thank god! I was really worried about you!"

Shanika just growled and went to lie down.

"Didn't go well then huh?" Shargra asked.

"He. Put. Me. On. The. Hunt."

"Oh." The hunt, once something all young lionesses aspired to, was now the ultimate degradation – and all the lionesses were on it now, even the ex-queen. Still, Shanika being still of tender years, it was a surprise in itself that she was on it, and she did not look pleased.

"How could he put me on the hunt! I mean ME! Shanika, the almighty lioness of doom! Ruler of the world! Goddess of all lions! The- ".

"Shanika, Shanika, enough with that that, what happened?" Shargra interrupted. Something else had obviously happened to upset her, because there were tears prickling in her eyes.

"Well, we were nearing lunch, it hadn't seen us then… it doesn't matter what happened, but I was blamed for it." she growled, looking away.

"What happened Shanika?" Shargra asked again, gently.

"Well, it was like I said… we had almost got close enough when one of those hyenas bounded up to us and scared it away." she said.

"How could they blame you for that?"

"Well… it sort of ran up to me, and I yelled out his name… it was, erm, Fluffy Two" she whispered.

"Oh, I told you to get rid of him Shanika!" Shargra moaned exasperatedly.

"I did! He must be in the pack that GIT brought here! D'you know what he said? He said it was all my fault and I was a stupid lioness and even Fluffy Two was cleverer than me…'cept he said Ed…and he's going to make me stand out in the rain! I'm damned if I'll stand in the rain! I AM SHANIKA! GODDESS OF WORLDS! HE SHOULD WORSHIP-"

"You see why you shouldn't have pets Shanika? They get you in trouble, don't they?" Shargra explained.

At this point the rest of the Pride entered the cave giving Shanika dirty looks. As they stalked away Shargra could distinctly hear them muttering things like "Stupid lioness," "Getting us in trouble," "She's useless," and "Needs to keep her 'boyfriend' away from the hunt!"

Lucky Shanika didn't hear this, Shargra thought, otherwise she would have gone mad and he would never hear the end of it. Hoping to get Shanika out of harm's way he mumbled "Come on Shanika, let's go somewhere and find some food."

With this Shanika perked up a bit,(although she was heard to mutter sarcastically "Food? HA! I laugh at your puny offerings, for there is no food left, and I…did you say FOOD? FOOD!") and followed him out of the cave, growling.

It was raining in the pridelands which was bad for two reasons: one was that lions, like other cats, weren't big fans of water, and as Shanika kept trying to walk underneath Shargra he couldn't walk properly, her being the same size as him; and the other reason was that the author's laptop was getting wet and threatening to shut down and end the world because it couldn't be written, and the beta was too busy dancing in the rain to be bothered.

"Stop complaining about it and get on with it, will you!" Shargra shouted angrily, "We don't like it in the rain either!"

"Who are you talking to?" Shanika asked, giving Shargra confused looks.

"No one," he said hurriedly, giving angry glances at the sky, "let's get going."

"Shargra…" whimpered Shanika.

"Yes, that's me. It was me two seconds ago two. Good to know I'm still me. What?"

"We're not allowed out of the cave until the git says so."

"Since when have you cared about rules, Shanika?"

"Yeah, but I'm in trouble already…I don't want to get in any more…I'm scared…"

"I promise, we won't get caught. It'll upset Scar!"

She grinned. "Okay."

With that the two lions started walking, Shanika kicking at rocks she came across and Shargra thinking to himself.

"I bet you made it rain."

"Shanika…"

"Oh, so it's your fault it's raining? I am NEVER talking to you again!" she shouted.

Shargra rolled his eyes as she stormed off. "Five, four, three, two, one…"

"Are we nearl- "

"I told you to NEVER SAY THAT AGAIN! Oh, just shut up, you're so annoying!" Shargra groaned.

"DON'T SHOUT AT ME!" Shanika said sounding hurt.

"I'm sorry Shanika, but you do go on sometimes." Shargra said apologetically.

"That's ok, the Holy Shanika forgives you," Shanika grinned, sounding pleased with herself. Shargra just rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT!"

Suddenly both the lions froze as they recognised the tones of a hyena. They were out of bounds. They'd been caught.

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please review (if you don't the hyenas will eat you!) 


	16. Chapter 16 : Regrets and Decisions

**Thank you (again) for the reviews, here is chapter 16**

**Chapter 16 – Regrets and Decisions **

"S-Sh-Shargra…" whispered Shanika, trembling against Shargra's body. She was terrified of hyenas still.

"Sssh! I don't think they've heard us yet." He squinted through the bushes.

"Good…let's go!" Shanika started to run away but he caught her tail with his teeth and pulled her back.

"Ow!"

"Shanika! What do you reckon they're talking about?"

"Does it matter?" she asked, "It can't have anything to do with food!"

He stared at her incredulously. "You really are one track minded aren't you? It's probably really important secrets that we aren't meant to know about on pain of death… let's go and see!" he said, giving a grin distinctly reminiscent of Shanika's, and without waiting for her to answer he started to walk around hiding in the bushes. Shanika followed, whimpering.

Eventually they managed to get round without being seen and found a place where they could hear the argument.

"…I'm telling you, there is no way, he could have survived out there!" one hyena growled.

" Oh come on, it isn't a very big place! I'd say a lion cub could easily survive crossing it," the other replied.

"Yes, but… well, I suppose Simba was quite a large cub, he could have survived out there _if_ he managed to cross the desert…I stand by what I said before he can't have survived! I mean…he just can't have…right?" the first one asked, with a pleading note in her voice, and a nervous laugh.

Shargra pulled Shanika out of the bushes and they moved off quietly.

They walked for a few minutes in tense silence before Shargra could stand it no longer, and he shook Shanika.

"Shanika, do you know what this means? It means that little Simba is probably still alive somewhere, and he's the rightful king! If we could get him back we could get rid of Scar!"

"But we're not allowed out of the Pridelands - how could we find him?" Shanika said. "Shargra, moving out for a drink is one thing…it's another thing to leave! Scar has hyenas posted at every border, and those ones _aren't_ nice at all. They'll rip us to pieces! That'll hurt!"

"You're right…wow…are you feeling alright?" Before Shanika could answer he continued hurriedly.

"The best thing to do is to inform the pride members that are not loyal to Scar-"

"That will be most of them then," interjected Shanika.

" -and say when they see a chance they should take it." Shargra finished.

"Shargra, you like hyenas, maybe you could persuade them to let us out?" Shanika suggested.

"No, it's too risky; they might tell Scar," Shargra muttered. By this time they'd just started to climb the rock, and he suddenly stopped as he looked at the entrance to the cave, before turning to stare out over the horizon. His mind filled with images of his parents.

"Shargra? What's up?" asked Shanika, showing surprising tact.

"Just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

"Our home. I was wondering if we'll ever go home."

"Shargra, didn't you say this is our home now?"

"I know, I know, everything was perfect, even with Scar it's still perfect, it's just –"

"It doesn't feel like home."

He turned to Shanika. "You are getting WAY too sensible."

"Perkins!"

"Wha- never mind! I don't want to know!" He turned back and behgan climbing again. "I think if we told Sarabi or Nala and let them decide what to do. I know for a fact they hate Scar – well, wouldn't you in their position?"

"Not Sarabi, she's in a really bad mood with me…she was in my hunting party…" Shanika mumbled hurriedly.

"Okay, so we tell Nala then?" Shargra said as they walked into the cave, and she nodded.

"Hey Nala, can we have a word?" he said loudly.

A young teenage lioness stood up, shook some light fur out of her eyes, yawned and walked over to them.

"Hi Shargra, Shanika," she said tiredly, "what do you want?"

"Nala can we talk to you privately?" asked Shanika, motioning to the cave entrance. Intrigued, Nala followed them out, and Shargra wondered precisely how to break the news to the princess of Pride Rock that her best friend was not dead after all.

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Please review, if you've read this and havent then those hyenas are getting very hungry 


	17. Chapter 17 : Hope

**Sorry for any delay on this but I have too much homework and thanks for the reviews.**

**Chapter 17 **

Shargra scuffed the ground nervously and turned to the two lionesses.

"What is it? What do you want to say?" Nala asked.

"We have some news about Simba," Shargra said, after a pause in which he exchanged a knowing look with Shanika.

"But he's dead," Nala said, staring at them both. Shargra winced as tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

"We don't think he is," Shanika said, most unhelpfully and with all the tact of a dead lizard, "see, we overheard two hyenas talking, and apparently they saw him running out into the desert after the stampede. One of them seemed pretty convinced that he should have survived it, he headed out right from the gorge and apparently that's the thinnest part of the desert."

"But he…" Nala burst into tears of relief, and Shanika grinned proudly.

"So, he could be alive?" Nala continued hopefully, "If we get him back Scar will be forced to step down! We have to go get him!" Nala said sounding hopeful.

"But we're not allowed to leave the pridelands, we have to wait 'till we see a chance to escape!" Shargra replied.

"No! We have to find Simba, he…" Her eyes filled with a desperate longing.

"Too many hyenas on guard. Tres risky." said Shanika, nodding sagely.

Nala stared at her through eyes brimming with tears, then looked to Shargra.

"Is she…"

"YES, SHE IS!"

Nala seemed to take the hint, and changed the subject rapidly.

"Okay, so the first chance anyone of us sees, we take, agreed?"

"Agreed," both Shargra and Shanika smiled simultaneously.

Nala started to walk down Pride Rock.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll just check to see what's there now," she grinned, a spark of adventure that they hadn't seen since Mufasa died visible in her eyes, and she sped off.

"So that's all we can do for now, we just have to wait and see what happens." Shargra sighed. "I wish there was something we could do."

"Something you could do about what?" came a voice.

They spun round to see Sarabi, who's fur was hanging limply off her thin bones, and whose eyes were now always filled with sadness, coming up behind them with a puzzled and tired expression.

Shanika muttered something about coconuts and disappeared into the nearest bush.

Shaking his head, Shargra turned to face the ex-queen. "Nothing your majesty, we were just discussing Scar's rule."

"Ah yes, my dear brother in law. Such a nice lion," she sighed, and Shargra looked at her, puzzled.

She laughed. "Never mind, Shargra. It's called a sense of humour. If you ever grow up, you may develop one too."

"Oh." Sarabi had a habit of putting things like this, and Shargra never knew what to do when she did.

Sarabi's stomach gave a growl, and she looked embarrassed. "Scar's ordered food rationing."

"But we barely have enough to survive on as it is!" he yelled incredulously, and then he realised who he was talking to. "Your majesty," he added hurriedly.

"Stop being so uptight Shargra, you'll give yourself neck cramps."

Shargra smiled and looked out across the Pride Lands. Somewhere out there, he knew there was the cave where he was born, but what the place was like now, he dreaded to think. It wasn't home any more, he realised with a jolt, and his eyes prickled with unexpected tears.

"Shargra?" asked the lion queen gently.

"I was just thinking about my home…it's not my home…" he croaked.

Sarabi gave him a gentle nuzzle with her nose. "Maybe this isn't either, Shargra. If you have to search for your home, we'll all understand. Wherever you feel is safe is good enough. You have some good friends…especially Shanika. She'll go with you. Talk to her."

He looked up, surprised, but she had walked away.

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please review, you'll upset Shanika if you don't 


	18. Chapter 18 : Pride and Prejudice

**Chapter 18 : _Pride _and Prejudice**

**Thank you again to the people who have reviewed and I know the chapter title is bad but...**

It had been a while since Shargra had found out that Simba might still be alive and both him and Shanika had been on the lookout for a lax in the guards that might have let them get out of the pridelands to find Simba, though they had not found one yet. Both Shargra and Shanika were now fully grown though Shanika still acted like a small cub at this point they were walking around the edge of the pridelands checking the guards.

"Why are we doing this again?" Shanika asked.

"I answered that five minutes ago!" Shargra answered, rolling his eyes, resisting the urge to feed her to the nearest hyena.

They were heading towards the place where the last guard should be - to check if it actually was there.

"Is there any point checking here, Shargra? I mean, there is always a guard here, what's the point really? Let's just go!" Shanika said nervously, not wanting to walk any further, even though they were in sight of the point.

Shargra was about to argue, but then looked up and saw that the guard was there as normal, and, more to the point, was starting to notice them. "Okay, you're right, there is no point," he sighed, and he had just turned to go when a voice called his name.

"Shargra, is that you?"

Shargra turned and saw the hyena guard staring at him.

"How do you know my name?" he asked.

"Don't you remember me? We were talking in the Pridelands and Mufasa came and chased me away. You stuck up for me…I've been so desperate to find you and say thanks!" she said, looking pleased.

"Nasiha," Shargra smiled with recognition, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on guard duty, it's extremely boring but that dammed Scar makes us do it!" she replied. "Still, better than being up at Pride Rock. I don't fancy a job surrounded by lions – oh, no offence," she added hastily.

"Plenty taken!" said Shanika dryly, and Shargra was about to tell her off when an idea occurred to him.

"Nasiha, could you do me a favour? Could you let someone come through here?"

"Um…Shargra, you're a nice lion and all, but I dunno…I could get in a lot of trouble…" she replied, shuffling her paws.

"Oh, so you insult us and then refuse us a basic favour? Funny way of showing gratitude!" said Shanika, and Shargra was both upset and surprised to see a snarl curling in Shanika's lip.

Nasiha raised her hackles. "Just because I'm not stupid enough to go against Scar and give up my life? I'm just trying to survive!"

"So are we!" Shanika growled angrily, and she put out claws.

"Shanika, STOP IT!" Shargra yelled, and she growled again, but did as she was told and put her claws back in, muttering.

"Please Nasiha, I promise I'll take the blame if anyone finds out, I'll say I forced you or something, please?"

Nasiha sighed. "Okay, fine, but after this we're even, yeah?"

Shargra agreed.

"Great!" he said, he turned to Shanika.

"Shanika, go get Nala."

"And leave you alone with a hyena? I-" she started, but Shargra cut her off.

"Just go get Nala!"

Shanika ran off incredibly quickly, and it was a matter of mere minutes until she returned with Nala - who looked confused when she saw Nasiha there. Shanika mumbled some rude words under her breath.

"Shargra, how can I get past? There's a guard right there…"

She said it quietly but nevertheless Nasiha still heard her.

"I've temporarily gone blind," she said, smiling at Nala, and then she turned and walked a small distance away.

"How did you do that?" Nala asked, surprised.

"It pays to make friends with hyenas sometimes," Shargra answered, grinning all over his face as Shanika gave a snort. "Now go quickly, before her shift is over!"

Indeed he could see another hyena approaching in the distance, and Nasiha noticed it too, for she hissed "Hurry!" to them.

Nala stared at the pair of lions. "You –"

"Nala, go already!"

So Nala ran, her legs taking long, powerful strides across the Savannah faster than she had ever run before, until she was just a speck on the horizon, and then she disappeared from view.

"I hope she gets back with help soon… for all our sakes…" Shargra muttered, half to himself, but next to him Shanika gave a whimper in agreement. Suddenly the winds of the plains seemed a lot colder, now that the plan was out of their control, and they huddled together for warmth.

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Please Review 


	19. Chapter 19 : Mufasa?

**sorry this took ages but I was quite busy at school** **anyway thanks to anyone who rewiewed**

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Chapter 19 – Mufasa? 

There was no food. There was no water. It seemed like years since it had last rained. Shanika said as much every spare moment, when Scar wasn't working the lionesses into the ground, although Shanika was still in disgrace from the rest of the pride due to ruining the hunt.

As Shargra and Shanika lay in the rays of the setting sun by the cave entrance, Shanika's belly gave another growl.

"Ugh, Shanika!" exclaimed Shargra, looking mildly disgusted.

"Well! You're a lion, you get half decent pickings! What with the pride hating me I'm always last, and I'm hungry!" she yelled.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it then?"

"NOTHING! I JUST WANT TO YELL AT SOMEONE!"

Shargra sighed and passed his paw in front of his face. "There is no food in the Pridelands, Shanika. All the other creatures have left and we can't leave the Pridelands, so short of travelling back in time there is nothing we can do!" Shargra exclaimed, becoming thoroughly exasperated with her.

"Do you think we could go back through time if we ran at 88 miles per hour?"

"What the…?"

"Never mind." She got up and strolled to the end of the rock. Shargra sighed and rolled onto his back.

As Shanika made her way past, a few lionesses of her own age got up and walked in front of her, blocking her way, snarling angrily.

"Scar made us hunt all day because of you, day in day out, because you ruined it!"

Her eyes watering, she turned round and walked back.

"Shargra?" she asked, her voice quavering.

"Oh, what NOW Shanika?" he growled, not opening his eyes.

"…Never mind," she murmured again, and she sniffed loudly. Biting her paw, she ran off, down from the rock and off towards the sides. If any of the Pride had been paying attention, they might have heard a stifled yelp, but nobody was.

Shargra, his body now considerably thinner than a lifetime ago when he'd got stuck in the mouth of the cave, slept in dreamless sleep. It seemed too long and yet too short when he awoke, a while later, to find Scar and Sarabi having what appeared to be a heated argument.

"No. You're just not looking hard enough!" Scar was growling, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"It's over! There is nothing left!" Sarabi was replying firmly. "We have only one choice - we must leave Pride Rock." Several lionesses nodded in agreement.

"We're not going anywhere," Scar said stubbornly.

"Then you have sentenced us to death!" Sarabi shouted. Sensing a tension not normally there, the rest of the pride began to walk up to them.

"Then so be it!" Scar half-screamed, raising his hackles in defiance. Shargra stared in amazement. Was Scar truly insane? Did he want them all to die?

"You can't do that!" Sarabi said, outraged.

"I'm the king. I can do whatever I want," he smirked, and Shargra was disgusted to see that he raised an eyebrow at Sarabi as if to flirt with her.

She echoed his sentiment, spitting the next words at Scar.

"If you were half the king Mufasa was you would neve-" He swiped at Sarabi's face with enough force to send her into a low orbit.

"I'm ten times the king Mufasa was!" he screamed. Suddenly there was a loud growl from a ledge above and a golden lion leapt down and advanced on Scar. Shargra gasped. The lion looked familiar. Was it- could it be?

"Mufasa?" gasped Scar.

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please review 


	20. Chapter 20 : Shanika?

**Hi again, thanks for reviewing, on with the chapter**

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**Chapter 20 - Shanika?**

"Mufasa?" gasped Scar.

The lion walked up to Sarabi and nuzzled at her head. "Mufasa?" she whispered, a desperate look of hope and amazement on her face.

"No, it's me," and Shargra realised with a jolt that it wasn't Mufasa, but- 

"Simba?" Sarabi gasped, staring at her son. "You - you're alive? How can that be?"

"It doesn't matter, I'm home," he said, with a sigh, again nuzzling Sarabi.

Shargra looked excited. His plan had worked! Spinning round to speak to Shanika, he whispered, "She found hi- Shanika?" She wasn't there. "Shanika?" he hissed again. No cheerful lioness popped up, giggling away. "I can't find Shanika!" he whispered to the lioness beside him, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh no, what a pity," she chuckled, and moved closer to him. "I do hope she's not…in danger."

"Hey! What have you done?" he said indignantly, and started to move away, but the lioness put her paw firmly down on top of his. "Zira! Let go!"

"Your king is talking! Pay attention!" she snarled, sounding very protective, and Shargra, though itching to scratch both her and her mate's eyes out, stayed where he was – well, he didn't really have much choice.

"The choice is yours, Scar. Either step down or fight." Simba said menacingly, and Shargra felt a twinge of fear at the look in the younger lion's eyes.

A fleeting glance of triumph, and Scar's tranquil demeanour returned. "Oh, must it all end in violence?" Scar asked philosophically, sounding quite calm. "I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member…" he said, and a mood of assent shot through the pride. "Wouldn't you agree… Simba?" He put an odd emphasis on the last word.

"That's not going to work, Scar. I've put it behind me," his nephew replied, as Shargra struggled to throw Zira off. She was probably the only lion who truly liked Scar, and her claws dug in deeper, causing him to yelp in pain. Her vivid yellow gaze never left the elder lion, a cruel smirk on her face.

"Ah, but what about your faithful subjects? Have they put it behind them?" Scar asked tauntingly.

"Simba, what is he talking about?" Nala asked. Shargra jumped - he hadn't seen Nala arrive. Sarafina broke away from the crowd and nuzzled her daughter joyfully.

"Aha, so you haven't told them your little secret!" crowed Scar triumphantly, and Zira laughed with him. "Well, Simba, now's your chance to tell them. Tell them who is responsible for Mufasa's death!"

"…I am" Simba whispered, and he hung his head, a tear trickling from his eye.

"He can't be," Shargra gasped, and Zira turned to him, as if noticing he was there for the first time. She cuffed him over the head.

"It's not true…tell me it's not true!" Sarabi was begging her son.

"It's true," he corrected sadly.

"You see, he admits it! MURDERER!"

"No! It was an accident!" Simba protested as Scar stalked a circle around him.

"If it weren't for you, Mufasa would still be alive. It's your fault he's dead..." he accused. "Do you deny it?"

"No."

"Then ... you're ... GUILTY!" Scar cried.

"No. I'm not a murderer!" Simba shouted back, and Shargra, struggling in Zira's grip, wasn't sure if Simba was trying to convince the pride, or trying to convince himself. It couldn't have been Simba, he thought desperately…but then he thought of how the lion had looked at Scar, and doubt flashed across his mind.

"Oh Simba, you're in trouble again," laughed Scar, prowling towards his nephew, pushing him to the edge of Pride Rock, "but this time, Daddy isn't here to save you… and now everyone knows why!" Suddenly Simba tripped backwards and plummeted over the edge of the rock. A scream came from Sarabi as a lightning bolt bit beneath Pride Rock igniting the dry grass.

"Simba!" shouted Nala and Shargra simultaneously.

Simba's paws were just visible, clinging to the rock, and Scar leapt forward, pinning the younger lion down with his claws in much the same way Zira did… but as Scar leaned down to whisper something in Simba's ear, Zira let go of Shargra, walking forward.

Seconds later, Simba leapt up, throwing Scar off him, and tackling him to the ground, pushing him to the edge.

"NOOO... MURDERER!" he screamed, looking half-mad.

The entire pride gasped.

"No, Simba… please!" Scar begged.

"Tell them the truth," Simba replied, his gaze stony, as he started to choke his uncle, who spluttered in his grasp, and squeezed out some words Shargra couldn't catch.

"So they can hear you," Simba added, and a silence fell thickly over the pride.

"I ... killed ... Mufasa!" Scar screamed, and the world exploded in a whirl of claws.

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**Please Review, I don't want to have to feed you to a Hyena, but they are hungry...**


	21. Chapter 21 : Battle For The Pridelands

Thanks for the reviews, on with the story!**  
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Chapter 21 – The Battle For The Pridelands**

Both lions and hyenas flew everywhere as the pride went mad. Claws and teeth whirled past Shargra's face and he ducked, briefly spotting Nasiha in the fray. They made eye contact for a second and she opened her mouth to speak, but a lioness cut in front of her and when Shargra could see again, Nasiha had vanished.

"Shanika!" yelled Shargra, panicking slightly, and he dashed around, screaming for his friend. "SHANIKA!" His voice, usually a load roar, was now not even audible over the racket the pride was making, and no replies, no annoying cheerfulness came in answer.

Heavy paws knocked him left and right and he slipped through the crowd, dodging all the attacks. A hyena flew straight for him, claws outstretched, and he ducked, as it went flying over his head and collided with a wall, crashing unconscious to the ground. Shargra winced and darted into the entrance of the cave, breathing heavily, panting, and rubbing his shoulder. The hyena's claws had just scraped it, and it was bleeding slightly.

"Shargra!" came a squeak, and then a heavy thud. Shargra spun round and saw Shanika, surrounded by three angry looking hyenas, all of whom were staring at her. One knocked her with a paw, and the other - a female – knocked him with a paw, growling.

"Shanika!" he yelled, and ran forward, but the female hyena leapt forward, jaws stretched. The male she'd smacked came forward to join in, whilst the third drooling creature kept Shanika – who was struggling ferociously and nipping at his paws with sharp teeth – pinned down.

But Shargra saw none of this. He fought the hyena, claws whirling, pulling it eventually to the ground, and was preparing to rip its throat out when -

Everything went black.

The Author stared at the blank screen for several moments before kicking the computer and swearing. "The bloody power's gone off again!"

Slowly, the light flickered back on, the PC came back to life, and the Author instantly went back to work, hoping that Shargra wouldn't be too angry with him.

Shargra prepared to rip out the struggling creature's throat, and was viciously knocked to the side by the other hyena. He forced himself up onto his weak paws, feeling heavy, and his shoulder causing shooting spasms of pain through his body, throbbing and tired. He looked over at Shanika and saw her desperately attempting to bite the third hyena's paws off, and almost smiled. But then her face went pale.

"Shargra, behind you!" she screeched, and he spun round to be instantly tackled to the ground. The female leapt onto his chest as Shanika struggled free of her captor and bound forward. She screamed "No! Shargra!", tears in her eyes as the female raised her paw –

"Shargra?" whispered the female.

"Go on, kill him then!" the stronger male shouted, as the female shook her head. "I… I can't do it," she said, climbing off Shargra, "if it weren't for him, I'd be dead."

Shargra struggled to his feet. "What are you talking about, hyena?" he asked, confused.

"Years ago, a small golden lion cub and his annoying friend saved me from drowning in a river, far away from home. There's the friend," she said, indicating Shanika, "and you're the cub that saved me." She looked at Shargra, smiling, and the other two hyenas looked on nonplussed.

Meanwhile, Shargra had a look of dawning comprehension on his face. "Shenzi, is that you?" he asked, and the hyena nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Shargra asked.

"This is my pack." Shenzi said, and then, more firmly: "I'm the leader".

"Why are you fighting against us? Why are you on Scar's side?" Shanika snarled, tugging on Shargra's fur. "Shargra, she'll kill you!" Her lip was quivering, and he could see she had blood trickling down her face. "Let's go, please!"

"We're not on his side," growled Shenzi, defiantly. "We hate him as much as you do, but if we don't fight for him he'll kill us!"

"But he's only one lion, what can he do to you?" Shargra murmured.

"He'll set the lionesses on us," she said, with the air of one explaining to a small child why you shouldn't get into the car with that strange man, "and they'll… they'll…"

"They'll what, exactly!" said Shanika, marching forward. "I'm sick of this!" she shouted at Shargra. "I am sick of every bloody hyena I see making assumptions, kidnapping, biting, clawing – get a grip! You don't have to do anything! If he has to get the lionesses to work by force, do you really think we're likely to be on his side! And YOU, Fluffy Two!" Shanika turned round quickly, and whacked the one who'd been holding her down in the face hard, with a paw.

Shenzi quickly moved in front of him.

"He'll…" she tried.

"You're all BLOODY IDIOTS and I'm sick of all of you! And Shargra, thank you for noticing I was missing!"

"I-" started Shargra.

"Oh, hello Shanika, nice to see you, Shanika, I was so worried about you, Shanika, gee, are you bleeding from the head? Are you possibly HUNGRY? Are you absolutely STARVING? Have you had nothing to eat or drink for A WHOLE DAY!"

"You're not on Scar's side?" asked Shenzi, quickly.

"OF COURSE WE'RE NOT!"

"No, we aren't," added Shargra.

"If the lionesses are fighting against him and us, he can't make them do anything!" she said, more to herself than to anyone else, and then, to the other two hyenas: "Right, come on you two!" And with that she darted out of the cave.

"I'm sorry, Shanika… are you alright?" asked Shargra.

She looked annoyed, and stared at the wall. Shargra moved across and nudged her in the back of the neck apologetically, and then they both burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry," he said again, and she bopped him on the nose with a paw.

"Come on, let's put those paws of yours to use," he grinned, and then she leapt into the air.

"Ooh, you wanna know the best bit?" she laughed. "This paw… it's a FIGHTIN' PAW!"

As they said this they heard a loud cry from outside, and as one they ran for the cave entrance, worried about their new friends.

"STOP FIGHTING!" yelled Shenzi.

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Please review, Shenzi might have to eat you if you don't. 

Hyenas aren't evil, just hungry.


	22. Chapter 22 : The End of Brown Lion

**Sorry for the long wait (not that anyone is actually waiting for this) but I'm supposed to be revising for my exams. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, now on with the story.  
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**Chapter 22 – The End of Brown Lion**

"STOP FIGHTING!" yelled Shenzi.

At this everyone stopped and looked up at her, mouths agape, paws raised – lions pitted against hyena, friend against enemy, snarling mouths frozen in unison. Shargra felt Shanika tremble with adrenalin and slight fear as the two of them looked at the tableau of anger, and then his attention was drawn to Shenzi, who's loud, harsh voice was berating the now silently staring hyenas.

"Don't you see? They aren't our enemy, it's not them who made us come here and help them become king! It's not them who treated us like crap! It's not them who made us out to be the evil ones! Who was it?"

"Scar!" shouted a voice from the back, and a murmur of dissent ran through the crowd. "Scar! Yes, that's right! Scar! Scar did this!"

"He scratched my pup!"

"He killed the king!"

"He's a liar!"

"He's a traitor!"

"He's my mother!"

"Yes, it was Scar!" shouted Shenzi, teeth bared in a grin, hushing the furious crowd again, "so stop fighting! We're both predators – why aren't we hunting together instead of hunting each other? Let us unite against our common enemy!"

A few moments silence. And then some more. And then a few seconds more.

A cheer, a screech, an almighty roar of agreement came from the crowd, and it dived into pandemonium. Shargra and Shanika looked at each other and grinned as they saw lion and hyena alike raise paws in the air and roar together, and then run off, yelling instructions to each other.

"I saw Scar! He went this way!"

"He went that way!"

"He went to hell!"

"He was with Simba!"

"He was with Zazu!"

"He was with my mother!"

Shenzi shouted some orders at the ones near her, and then she ran off, muscles moving quickly across the stone as she searched for the lion who had made all their lives such a misery.

Shargra and Shanika slowly and carefully struggled down to where the rest of the pride were along with a few of the hyenas, licking each others wounds, and Shargra saw Nasiha among them. He smiled weakly at her, and she grinned back before giving a yelp of joy. Shargra watched her run up to a male hyena, who had a squirming pup in his mouth, and nuzzle the pair of them. The male licked her, and she licked his face back. Shargra smirked.

"Ewww….." muttured Shanika, and Shargra rolled his eyes.

Sarabi walked up to them, slowly and proudly, a queen all the time despite her ordeal, looking as shocked as her upbringing would allow her. "I shall abdicate," she murmured decisively, and then, to the two young lions, "what did you two do to those hyenas?"

"Not much, I just needed to convince them that Scar couldn't do anything to them anymore and they did the rest themselves. Nice creatures really, no different from us – it's like my father told me once there's good in everyone; all you need to do is bring it out."

Sarabi looked kind, and seemed as if she was about to say something when: "LOOK!" Shanika screeched.

Shargra looked up just in time to see Simba flip Scar from the rock. The young lion watched, transfixed by the look of mingled terror and anger on Scar's face as he plummeted down, down, down, and crashed to the ground not far from where Shargra and Shanika stood. Shanika gave a strangled cry at the sight of his body, and buried her face in Shargra's fur, but Shargra nudged her, and she peeked out.

Scar was slowly getting to his feet and Shenzi and her two friends were watching him. He pushed himself up onto his paws, swayed slightly, winced, and looked around with a look of intense pain before noticing the three furious hyenas, and his looks instantly resumed their suave demeanour; albeit with a slight panic to his voice.

"Ahh, my…my friends!" he murmured, taking a step towards them, but the look on Shenzi's face stopped him.

"Frie-he-hends?" she coughed, as if she hadn't heard correctly. "I thought he said we were the enemy!"

"Yeah, that's what I heard!" one of her friends said, also grinning.

"Ed?" they both asked at the same time, and no words could convey how chilling that word sounded.

The hyena called Ed – whom Shargra recognised now, from a life long ago – looked at Scar, and then, very slowly, started a cruel sounding chuckle, that got higher, and faster, and more terrifying with every step the three took towards Scar, as the other hyenas emerged from the mists, threatening shadows, past Shargra and Shanika, closing in on the treacherous lion.

"No. L-L-L-Le-Le-Le-Le-Let me explain. No! You don't understand. No! I didn't mean for... No, No! Look, I'm sorry I called you... No! NOO!" Scar gave a scream of terror, but it was barely audible over Ed's cackling, and he disappeared from their view, but the cries and shadow on the wall were indication enough. Shanika sobbed at the sounds and buried her head fully in Shargra's shoulder again, and Shargra covered her ears, unable to draw his eyes away.

The fire began to fade, and storm clouds were gathering, the few drop of rain splashing down and soaking their fur, mingling Shanika's tears with the raindrops.

"Simba!" whispered Shanika, "Simba, did he make it?"

They looked back up at Pride Rock, and saw the lion himself, stalking slowly up the wet rock. Their eyes followed him, and Shargra felt a burst of pride in his chest as he thought of all this lion had achieved. When you looked at it, really, he hadn't done anything. All these brave animals – Simba, Shenzi, Nala and Nasiha – had risked their lives. All he'd done was make the sparks.

As if she knew what he was thinking, Shanika nudged him, and he looked at her. Through the rain he could see that she was grinning. "What?" he asked, puzzled.

"You!" she shouted.

"What!"

"You've got a mane, you sod!" she cackled, laughing her head off, and as Simba gave a great roar, they roared too, happy to be in the pride, their hearts swelling, roaring the loudest roar they'd ever roared. And Shargra roared the loudest of all, raising his paw to the sky in a mighty gesture to the lion king.

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**Please review**

**I will try to get the last bit up quicker than this one. **


	23. Epilogue

**Ok so this is the last bit so thanks to all my reviewers and I hope you enjoyed it.  
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**On with the ****epilogue.**

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**Epilogue**

"I hear that you two had a major part in the final victory against Scar, I thank you both for all your help," Simba had said afterwards, as they walked along the edge of the Pridelands, checking up on the recovering grasses and animals, and giving Shanika a chance to 'stretch her legs' – or rather, disturb the zebra.

"We don't deserve all the credit Simba, if we didn't have Shenzi's help, things would have come out quite differently," Shargra said modestly, and then he added "Speak of the devil!"

Indeed, Shenzi and her duo of boys – Banzai and Ed, who were quietly bickering behind her (well, Banzai was bickering and Ed was drooling) – were smiling and walking up to them. Simba had agreed to meet them to discuss various issues.

"Shenzi!" shouted Shanika joyously, running into a tree.

"You really have cured her of her hyena phobia, you know," smiled Shargra as the hyena and the lion, good friends now, came face to face.

Shenzi laughed and shook her head, before turning to Simba.

"Your majesty," she said formally, bowing in a stiff and awkward manner, "I apologise for any harm that my pack may have caused you or your pride."

Simba looked down at the hyena. "You are forgiven, of course. It is not your fault that my uncle made you do those things, and by what Shargra said I have you to thank for stopping the fighting and for finally getting rid of Scar. Therefore - I give permission for you to stay in the Pridelands. You may have your side, and the lions may have theirs, and we will discuss things with you before making ideas. Lions and hyenas may come and go as they please, but no stealing each others kill. And of course, should we ever need an ally…"

"We understand," she smiled, and then gave her harsh laugh, her formal manner disappearing, and thumped him on the back with one paw in a sign of friendship. Simba looked shocked, but, gingerly, returned the gesture. "See ya, sport," Shenzi shot at Shargra, and with this the three hyenas disappeared.

Simba turned to begin to wander back towards Pride Rock, but Shargra stood and stared out on the horizon. Simba's tales of his life had stirred a restlessness in him he couldn't understand. He had everything here – friends, a shelter, food and a wide possibility of mates in later life, when that prospect wasn't quite so… ugh. So why – didn't it feel like home?

"Simba," he murmured, and the king smiled, "I-"

"It's alright, Shargra. I know what you want, and I give you my permission. Go, look for your family or head to pastures new. I ask only that if I call for your help, you come. And be careful – Nala has a soft spot for you."

Tears sprang to Shargra's eyes and he embraced the king. "Take care of Shanika for me, would you? She'll get a bit distressed, I imagine."

Simba nodded, and with a final look at the Pridelands, Shargra set off to find home.

"OI!"

He turned round. Shanika was flying towards him, her fur like fire under the hot sun, and she sped right past the startled Simba to Shargra's side, panting.

"You – you were gonna go without me?" she sniffed, and Shargra rolled his eyes.

"No, no. I couldn't do that to them," he grinned, and she whacked him with a paw as they turned, waved to Simba, and started walking.

"So, where are we going?"

"No idea."

"Ah, okay. But Shargra?" she smiled, looking tender and sincere.

He stopped walking, and looked at his best friend, thinking of how much they'd changed since leaving their home, and how mature they'd become. "Yeah?"

"I'm hungry!"

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**Ok that's the end, I have finally finished! Just to inform you, there might be a sequel to this although I am not sure and I also do have another story I have actually started writing but I'm not sure if I'll continue that or not as I only have about a paragraph. **

**Thanks again to all the people who have reviewed, and all I need to say now is please review. **


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